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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) -
Today, in the study of the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father Francis
received in audience Haydar al-Abadi, prime minister of Iraq, who
subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,
accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for
Relations with States.

During the cordial discussions,
reference was made to the good state of bilateral relations, to the
life of the Church in the country and to the situation of Christians
and ethnic and religious minorities living in Iraq, with particular
reference to the importance of their presence and the need to protect
their rights. Emphasis was placed on the role of interreligious
dialogue and the responsibility of religious communities in promoting
tolerance and peace.

In this context, mention was made of
the importance of the reconciliation process between the various
social sectors within the country, and the national humanitarian and
regional situation.

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) –
This morning the Holy Father dedicated the catechesis of his
Wednesday general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, to a
reflection on the biblical meaning of the Jubilee. Francis explained
that every fifty years, on the Day of Atonement, a great event of
liberation was announced. It consisted of a type of "general
amnesty", in which all debts were cancelled and the land was
restored to its owners. The central idea is that the earth belongs to
God and has been entrusted to men as administrators. The Pope added
that the biblical jubilee was a true jubilee of mercy which had the
function of helping the people to experience genuine fraternity by
sincerely pursuing, by means of mutual assistance, the good of their
brother in need. Likewise he mentioned other rules and customs, such
as the payment of the tithe, or one-tenth of their harvest, or the
sharing of the first part of the harvest, and the prohibition of
loads with disproportionate rates of interest, all intended to help
the poor, the orphans and widows. Francis emphasised that the message
of the biblical jubilee invites us to construct a land and a society
based on solidarity, sharing and the just distribution of resources.

He stressed that if the Jubilee does
not "reach our pockets" then it is not a true jubilee, and
that this, "is in the Bible, it wasn't invented by the Pope".
"We are all guests of the Lord, awaiting the celestial homeland,
called upon to make the world that welcomes us inhabitable and human.
And how much of the harvest the more fortunate could give to those
who are in need! Not only the fruits of the fields, but also any
other produce of work: salaries, savings, the many things we possess
and which are often wasted. It also happens today".

"Thinking of this, the Holy
Scripture insistently exhorts us to respond generously to requests
for loans, without mean calculations and without demanding
unreasonable rates of interest. … This teaching remains current.
How many situations of usury do we see, and how much suffering and
anguish among families? Very often, in desperation, men even arrive
at the point of suicide because they can no longer cope; they are
without hope and no-one extends a hand to help them, only a hand to
demand they pay interest. Usury is a grave sin. … But the Lord
promised His blessing to those who extend their hand to give
generously. He will redouble the repayment, perhaps not in money but
with other things; it will always be redoubled". Francis
concluded by reiterating that "if we wish to receive God's
mercy, we must start by being merciful ourselves, starting with our
co-citizens, among families, peoples, continents. Contributing to
creating an earth without poverty means building societies without
discrimination, based on the solidarity that leads us to share what
we possess, in a division of resources based on brotherhood and
justice".

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) –
At the end of today's general audience, the Holy Father mentioned
that tomorrow, the memory of Our Lady of Lourdes, will be the 24th
World Day of the Sick. "In this year's message we reflect on the
indispensable role of Mary in the wedding at Cana: 'Do whatever He
tells you'. Mary's promptness reflects God's tenderness and the
immense goodness of Merciful Jesus".

Francis invited those present to pray
for the sick and to let them be aware of our love. "May the same
tenderness of Mary's be present in the life of the many people who
are by the side of the sick, so they may be able to perceive their
needs, even those that are imperceptible, as they are seen through
eyes filled with love".

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) –
Pope Francis inaugurated the "KeepLent" initiative
organised by the Youth Pastoral of the Prelature of Pompeii, Italy,
with a voice message broadcast via the "Telegram" instant
messaging application at 7.30 this morning.

"Dear boys and girls,

Jesus said to His disciples, 'Be
careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be
seen by them … So when you give to the needy, do not announce it
with trumpets … Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret,
will reward you"

The Word of God guides us in living
well the Lenten period.

When we do something good, at times we
are tempted to be appreciated and to seek recompense: human glory.
But it is a false recompense as it projects us towards what others
think of us.

Jesus asks us to do good because it is
good. He asks us to be aware that we are always under the watch of
the heavenly Father and to live in relation to Him, not in relation
to the judgement of others.

Living in the presence of the Father is
a far more profound joy than worldly glory.

Our attitude during Lent must therefore
be that of living in secret where the Father sees us, loves us and
awaits us. Certainly, even external things are important, but we must
always choose and live in the presence of God.

Let us do so in prayer, in
mortification, and in the fraternal charity that we are able to give,
humbly, before God. We will thus be worthy of the recompense of God
the Father.

I wish you a good Lent. May Our Lady of
Pompeii accompany you, and please, pray for me".

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) –
Showing the maternal face of the Church, being aware of the need for
forgiveness and the sense of shame of those who confess, and not
applying a harsh form of justice were the main features of the advice
Pope Francis gave yesterday afternoon to the Missionaries of Mercy
from all continents, whom he received in audience in the Sala Regia
of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. Today, during the Ash Wednesday
Mass, he will confer to them their mandate as "missionaries"
of mercy in the context of the Jubilee.

"I meet with you with great
pleasure, before giving you the mandate of being Missionaries of
Mercy. This is a sign of special relevance because it characterises
the Jubilee, and enables the unfathomable mystery of the mercy of the
Father to be lived in all the local Churches", said the Holy
Father. "Being a missionary of mercy is a responsibility I have
entrusted to you because it requires that you be witnesses in the
first person of God's closeness and his way of loving. It is not our
way, always limited and at times contradictory, but His way of
loving, His way of forgiving, that is indeed mercy".

Francis went on to remind the new
missionaries that in their ministry they are called upon to express
the maternity of the Church. "The Church is a mother because she
always generates new sons and daughters in faith; the Church is a
mother also because she nurtures faith; and the Church is a mother
also because she offers God's forgiveness, regenerating new life, the
fruit of conversion. We cannot run the risk that a penitent does not
perceive the maternal presence of the Church who welcomes and loves
him. If this perception were to be made less evident as a result of
our rigidity, it would constitute a grave damage first and foremost
to faith itself, as it would prevent the penitent from seeing himself
as integrated within the Body of Christ. Furthermore, it would
greatly limit his sense of being part of a community. We are instead
called upon to be a living expression of the Church who, as a mother,
welcomes anyone who approaches her, knowing that through her they are
integrated with Christ. Entering into the confessional let us always
remember that it is Christ Who welcomes, Christ Who listens, Christ
Who forgives, and Christ Who gives peace. We are His ministers, and
we are the first who are in need of His forgiveness. Therefore,
whatever may be the sin to be confessed – or that the person does
not dare to say, but alludes to, which is enough – each missionary
is called upon to remember their own existence as a sinner and to
humbly place himself as a 'channel' of God's mercy".

Another important aspect is to know how
to "look at the desire for forgiveness in the penitent's heart.
It is the fruit of grace and its action in the life of people, which
enables us to feel nostalgia for God, for His love and His home. Let
us not forget that it is precisely this desire that is at the
beginning of conversion. The heart turns to God, recognising the in
committed, but with the hope of obtaining forgiveness. And this
desire is strengthened when one decides in one's heart to change life
and to sin no more. It is the moment at which one entrusts oneself to
God's mercy, trusting fully in being understood, forgiven and
supported by Him. Let us allow ample space to this desire for God and
for His forgiveness; may we let it emerge as a true expression of the
grace of the Spirit that inspires the conversion of the heart".

Finally, the Holy Father spoke about a
crucial, often neglected aspect: shame. "It is not easy to place
oneself in front of another man, knowing that he represents God, and
confess to sin. One is ashamed not only of the sin committed, but
also of having to confess it to another", said the Pope,
emphasising that the Bible from its very first pages tells us about
how Adam and Eve, after they had sinned, felt shame and hid
themselves from God. Noah too, considered a righteous man, was not
free from sin. His intemperance is a sign of his weakness, to the
extent that he loses his dignity, expressed in the Scripture by his
nakedness. Two of his sons, Shem and Japheth take his cloak and cover
him to restore his dignity.

"This passage suggests to me the
importance of our role as confessor", said Francis. "Before
us there is a 'naked' person, and also a person who does not know how
to speak and does not know what to say … with the shame of being a
sinner, and very often unable to say so. Let us not forget: before us
there is not the sin, but the repentant sinner. … A person who
wishes to be accepted and forgiven. Therefore, we are not called upon
to judge, with an attitude of superiority, as if we were immune to
sin. On the contrary, we are called upon to act like Shem and
Japheth, who took a cover to spare their father from shame. Being a
confessor in accordance with Christ's heart means covering the sinner
with a cloak of mercy, so that he is no longer ashamed and is able to
recover the joy of his filial dignity, and may also know where to
find it".

"However, it is not the club of
judgement that we succeed in returning the lost sheep to the flock,
but rather with the holiness of life that is the starting point of
renewal and reform in the Church. Holiness is nurtured with love and
knows how to bear the burden of the weak. A missionary of mercy
carries the sinner on his shoulders, and consoles him with the power
of compassion. … It is possible to do great damage, great damage to
a soul if one does not listen with the heart of a father, with the
heart of the Mother Church". "Some months ago I spoke with
a wise cardinal of the Roman Curia about the questions that some
priests ask in confession, and he said to me, 'When a person starts
and I see that they want to say something, and I realise and
understand, I say, I understand, don't worry. … This is a father".

"I accompany you on this
missionary adventure", concluded the bishop of Rome, "offering
you as examples two saints, ministers of God's forgiveness: St.
Leopold and St. Pio … along with many other priests who during
their life have borne witness to God's mercy. They will help you.
When you feel the burden of the sins confessed to you, and the limits
of your person and your words, trust in the power of mercy that
reaches out to everyone as love and knows no bounds. And say, like
many saintly confessors, 'Lord, I forgive you', and go ahead".

- Msgr. Lauro Tisi as metropolitan
archbishop of Trento (area 6,212, population 530,308, Catholics
486,000, priests 587, permanent deacons 28, religious 726), Italy.
The bishop-elect was born in Giustino, Italy in 1962 and was ordained
a priest in 1987. He has served in a number of pastoral roles in the
archdiocese of Trento, including deputy priest, vice rector of the
seminary, and spiritual father and delegate for young priests. He is
currently vicar general and moderator of the Curia. He succeeds
Archbishop Luigi Bressan, whose resignation from the pastoral care of
the same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the
Holy Father.

- Msgr. Renato Marangoni as bishop of
Belluno-Feltre (area 3,263, population 188,500, Catholics 188,300,
priests 206, permanent deacons 6, religious 181), Italy. The
bishop-elect was born in Crespano del Grappa, Italy in 1958 and was
ordained a priest in 1983. He holds a doctorate in theology from the
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a number of
pastoral roles, including parish vicar, deputy director of the
Gregorianum College in Padua, secretary of the Commission for the
continuing formation of the clergy, episcopal delegate for family
pastoral ministry, president of the Commission for the family, deputy
director of the Istituto San Luca for the continuing formation of the
clergy, member of the diocesan presbyteral council, delegate
president of the presbyteral pastoral council, and episcopal vicar
for lay apostolate. He is currently episcopal vicar for pastoral
ministry in the diocese of Padua. He succeeds Bishop Giuseppe
Andrich, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese
upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Fr. Roberto Carboni, O.F.M.
Conv., as bishop of Ales-Terralba (area 1,494, population 97,830,
Catholics 97,580, priests 66, permanent deacons 5, religious 89),
Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Scano Montiferro, Italy in 1958,
gave his religious vows in 1982 and was ordained a priest in 1984. He
holds a licentiate in psychology from the Pontifical Gregorian
University and has served in a number of roles including spiritual
director of the national centre for spiritual guidance, lecturer of
psychology in the Theological Institute of Assisi and in the
Pontifical Theological Faculty of Sardinia, deputy priest in
Cagliari, rector of the Franciscan postulate, secretary and
provincial vicar, missionary in Cuba, spiritual director of the
seminary, and rector of the Church of St. Francis in Havana, Cuba. He
is currently general secretary for the formation of the Order of
Friars Minor Conventual. He succeeds Bishop Giovanni Dettori, whose
resignation from the pastoral governance of the diocese was accepted
upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

Vatican City, 10 February 2016 (VIS) –
No Vatican Information Service bulletin will be transmitted tomorrow,
the eighty-seventh anniversary of the institution of Vatican City
State by the signing of the Lateran Pacts. Service will resume on
Friday, 12 February.